


Do They Make Robots What Are Crazy?

by meefling



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-12
Updated: 2013-01-23
Packaged: 2017-11-25 04:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/635115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meefling/pseuds/meefling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hatchworth is having nightmares, and visits the Spine to find some comfort. Soon, the Jon and even Rabbit join the Spine in his room, having a 'slumber party'. Things begin getting... out of hand, let's say, when something in one robot's circuitry starts to change.</p><p>Based around an RP that my friends and I wrote on Skype a few months back. I was the Jon ;) if you were in this RP, let me know so I may credit you!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The door to The Spine's stasis chamber creaked slightly as it was opened, and as Hatchworth hesitantly peered into the room he could practically feel the silence. "Um.. Spine..? Y-You up..?"

The Spine was lying down on the floor, staring at the ceiling and thinking, he looked up at Hatchworth's voice, "Yeah, just pondering, do you need something?" he pushed himself up to a sitting position.

"Just wanted to talk, is all.. Mind if I come in?" His hand lingered on the doorknob, already steeled for rejection.

The Spine nodded, "No not at all, come in." he waved a hand towards himself, "You okay?" He got up off the floor, then pulled a chair over for himself and one for Hatchworth.

He tried to offer the other bot a small smile, but it faltered and faded away as he sat down. He clasped his hands in his lap and gazed intently down at them. When he spoke his voice was small. "I.. Uh.. I had another dream.. Well I guess it was a nightmare..A-About the vault, I mean.."

The Spine looked down at him and took his hand, "Do you want to tell me what happened?" he looked thoughtfully into Hatchworth's receptors.

"..." He flinched slightly as The Spine took his hand, but he made no attempt to pull away. "Dark..' His voice shook and he took a moment to try and clear his throat. "It was dark.. Unimaginably dark, a-and there were no sounds. It was like being in a t-tomb.." He stopped and let out a bitter laugh. "Though I suppose that's what it was in the end.. And.." He shut his eyes, drawing in a deep breath. "I heard you. All of you. You had come to tell me that you weren't going to let me out." His eyes open and met with The Spine's. "I dreamed that I died in that vault."

The Spine felt a cold rush throughout his body, "You know, you know that will never happen." He looked around Hatchworth's face, "It's all over, you won't ever have to see it again. I promise you that." He put his other hand on Hatchworth's shoulder, "Okay?"

This time he did pull away, shrugging off The Spine's hand with a shuddering exhale. "I want to believe you, but I can't. I just can't." He looked back down to his hands, turning them back and forth slowly. "What happens if I break again? Huh? What happens if I hurt one of you?"

"We will fix you, we can now." He paused and looked down, "You won't ever hurt one of us." He looked back up to Hatchworth, "Not possible my friend."

Hatchworth exhaled a small cloud of steam, slumping forward in the chair to bury his face in his hands. As he spoke his voice was slightly muffled. "Please help me, Spine. I can't sleep anymore. I-I.. I can't do this.."

The Spine went to put his hand back on Hatchworth, but stopped, "It's alright, we can get sense of this, just know you are always safe." He dropped his hand down to Hatchworth's knee, "Okay? We'll figure it out."

A certain brass automaton stood just to the side of the doorway to The Spine's stasis chamber, silent and out of eyesight to the other robots. He listened to the conversation quietly before deciding to make an appearance. He put a grin on his face and took a step to the side, now right in the doorway. "Hi Th'Spine!" he waved one hand before putting it at his side. The Jon blinked as he 'realized' Hatchworth's presence. "Oh hey Hatchy!" he waved again, grinning wider.

Hatchworth lifted his face from his hands quickly, clearing his throat- "O-Oh, hello Jon.." He removed his glasses to wipe at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Need something?"

The Jon shook his head, grin still firmly in place on his face. "Nope, just wanted to say hi!" he turned to leave, before spinning right back around and marching into the room. "I needed a place to stay the night and this looks like a nice hotel! Mind if I stay?"

The Spine looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, "Hotel?" He never understood the Jon's little games, "What do you mean?"

"Silly Spine, I mean this hotel you have here!" the Jon looked around the room, gesturing with his arms in the air. "So can I stay? I have cash!" he reached into his pocket and there was a squishing sound. The grin disappeared as he pulled his hand back out of his pocket, some mysterious blue slush coating his hand. "Never mind, that's not money." he said bluntly, holding his hand out to them to show them.

Recoiling away from The Jon's hand slightly, Hatchworth arched an eyebrow and looked over to The Spine. "What is he talking about?"

The Spine leaned back, and cleared his throat, unsure of what to say, he looked back at Hatchworth and shrugged, "I don't know." But then the Spine got an idea, and piped up, "Sure Jon! You can stay!"

The Jon's photoreceptors glowed bright blue. "YES!" he cheered, giggling and jumping from foot-to-foot. "So where do I sleep?" he asked, rubbing his sticky hand on his shirt, smiling innocently at the other two. He leaned towards them with anticipation.

The Spine pointed to a spot on the floor, "Uh right there." he stood up and straightened his shirt, "I can get more blankets." He looked at Hatchworth before he left, "You'll see."

"Uhm.. alright..?" Hatchworth sighed and hesitantly reclined in the chair, watching as The Spine left.

He nodded and practically bounced to where The Spine pointed, sitting down cross-legged with his hands in his lap like an obedient little child. "I'll wait!" The Jon called, rocking back and forth slightly where he sat.

The Spine came back with a large bundle of blankets and pillows in his arms, he dropped them on the floor, and walked over to Hatchworth, "Maybe if you aren't alone, you won't have nightmares." he said quietly.

"Oh.." at that moment Hatchworth felt his optics brim over with oil, and he had to look away out of shame. "Th-Thank you.."

The Jon glanced at the pile. Once he figured out what it was, he practically squealed and stood from his spot, grabbing a blanket and laying it on the floor. He grabbed another and did the same overtop of the other one. He plopped some pillows down at one end of the blanket sandwich, then grabbed another few blankets and jumped onto the blanket stack he'd made, lying the blankets in his hands over top of himself. When he was all cozy, he let out a gust of steam from his mouth and giggled. The Jon pulled the blankets up over his head.

"You comfy there Jon?" said the Spine smiling, "Come on Hatchworth, let's get cozy." He spread out some more blankets then looked up at the wall as if he'd gotten a sudden idea, "I think I have something in my closet." he straightened up, and went to the closet pulling out a purple box, "Aha, chocolate." he looked up and sighed, "don't ask."

"...I.. Er, never mind I guess.." He arched his eyebrow as he looked at the box of chocolates. With a small sigh he got out of the chair and sat down on the floor, pulling a few blankets up to his chest.

The Jon's head popped out from the blanket pile, looking over at Hatchworth with his nose down covered by the blanket. He started to giggle. "You better snuggle up like a bug in a rug, Hatchy! There ARE bed bugs... and rug bugs!" he hid himself under the blanket again, his giggles more muffled.

Hatchworth blinked, unsure of how to respond to that. Instead he simply looked back up to The Spine and smiled slightly, patting the floor beside him. "Well? C'mere!"

The Spine went down slowly until his legs were crossed, landing with a soft thud, "Always prepared?" he said, with a tone that suggested he was asking a question, "I like to make sure... oh never mind, anyone?" he held out the box.

The Jon looked out from his blanket sandwich again and grinned, reaching an arm out to the box. "Can I have one?" he asked, even though The Spine already offered.

He nervously took a chocolate from the box, holding it between his fingers delicately. He stared at it for a little while, as if he was worried it was going to hurt him. "Heh, you're not going to drug us, are you Spine?" His tone was light and jesting but still slightly on edge.

Hatchworth's little joke suddenly made The Jon freeze up and withdraw his hand, whimpering. "I thought you were good, Th'Spine..." he muttered, averting his eyes. "So... were you the one who stole my favourite Bobby Darin underpants too?"

"Course not!" The Spine chuckled darkly, "Why would I do that?" he asked sounding innocent but his grin really hiding the dark truth, he /did/ steal the underwear, he was wearing them too, wearing Bobby Darin underwear, /and/ drugging the bots.

"Oh." he smiled sheepishly, ruffling his own blond curls. "Sorry. I'll go ask Rabbit tomorrow!" he looked at Hatchworth suspiciously. "You too, bub..."

Hatchworth held up his hands defensively "Hey! I don't have them!" He looked back down to the chocolate in his hand and shrugged "Ah, might as well, I don't remember the last time I had sweets.."

The Jon continued glaring suspiciously, growling. "Gimme my underpants, Hatch... I know you have 'em..."

He rolled his optics at Jon as he ate the chocolate "I don't have em.."

The Spine waved the box in front of the Jon, "You're allowed." he chuckled again, "They're the greatest." He looked over at Hatchworth, "Underwear stealer are you? Mm?" He laughed again, unlike his regular self, happier. 

Rabbit swaggers into the room with the air of an Old West sheriff, hands on his hips as he looks over them expectantly, head held high and one eyebrow raised, judging the entire situation with a glare for a minute, mismatched receptors burning brightly. After a minute, he snaps, voice barked out in a high shriek and losing any of the 'cool' attitude he thought he had. "Y-y-you guys are havin' a slumber party in here /without/ me?!"

"Feel free to join in." The Spine said offering some chocolate, "The more the merrier!"

The Jon suddenly screamed, getting out from his blankets in a hurry and running at Rabbit. "YOU HAVE MY UNDERPANTS!" he shouted, tackling Rabbit to the ground. Rabbit yelps in response, his head making a loud 'thud' as it hits the ground, and he immediately pushes The Jon off him. "/Jon/. Why w-w-would I take your /underpants/?!" he cries, getting back to his feet and stomping angrily across the room, taking a blanket in one hand and grabbing an entire fistful of chocolate in the other before he plants himself down cross-legged on the floor.

Hatchworth shifts closer to The Spine, unsettled by the sudden intrusion by Rabbit. He leans back against a pile of blankets and crosses his arms behind his head. "Hey Rabbit. I guess you're joining us now?"

Rabbit nods, still frowning as he puts most of the chocolate he'd taken in his hand into his mouth, talking and spitting it everywhere. "Y-yeah, you guys ai-ain't leavin' me outta yer party."

The Spine clasped his hands together now. His plans were running smoothly, "Lot's left, don't be shy." he said passing the box around. He grinned a sinister grin.

The Jon blinked, lying on the floor spread out like a kite for a few seconds. "Y'guys, Where's my Bobby Darin underpants? I mean like, my FAVOURITE ones." he asked, sitting up and crawling on all fours back over to his blanket pile to get 'snug as a bug in a rug' once more.

He absentmindedly grabbed a few chocolates from the box, stuffing them into his mouth all at once. "Pretty good, The Spine!" he grinned when he finished the chocolates.

Rabbit tosses the blanket he'd picked up into the air, throwing it over his own head and wearing it over his back as he slouches over underneath it, eating the rest of the chocolate in his strange little plush igloo. He stretches his hand out towards The Spine, making grabby hands at the box.

The Spine slid the box over to him. "Good eh? Lots left Hatchy!"

Rabbit fills his fingers with them again and pushes them all into his mouth, not leaving too many in the box and not really caring, either. He hides back further in his little blanket fort, still pouting that they started the party without him.


	2. Chapter 2

Grumbling softly under his breath Hatchworth grabbed a few more chocolates, eating them one by one. "Careful now you guys, you're going to get sick if you keep that up."

"Says you!" The Jon laughed, rolling to the side and getting himself tangled in the blankets. Suddenly his inner workings (for lack of a better term) felt unusually hot and it started to ache inside him. "Owwwwwww!!" he whined, rolling out of his cocoon gracelessly, hugging himself.

Rabbit raises an eyebrow in The Jon's direction, tilting his head towards him in a gesture as he turns to The Spine. "Wh-what's up with him?"

"Oh he's fine." The Spine chuckled darkly, "You're all /fine/." he looked up at the wall from beneath the brim of his hat. 

"Not fiiiine..." He started to moan, oil gathering in his optics. "Hurts, The Spine, heeelp..." he pouted, looking in The Spine's direction.

The Spine shuffled over to him, "Where does it hurt?"

Rabbit twitches suddenly in a strange fashion - even weirder than the usual weird movements he made. His optics blink out of sync and he winces, clutching a hand to his torso as it makes an odd noise. Retrating back underneath his blanket, he groans, hiding himself away. "Ugh, n-now I see what you mean," he sputters.

"I warned you guys.." Hatchworth frowns, considering he had not had nearly as much chocolate as the others.

"All over..." The brass automaton struggled to get the words out, curling up and whining loudly. "D-Doctor Spine, cure me..." he muttered between his whimpers, trying to get at another game and be fun again, even if he was in a lot of pain.

Rabbit wheezes under the blanket, deciding it's too hot as steam pours out of the vents on his face, condensation pouring off him - but suddenly he doesn't have the energy to get up from underneath it, just groaning again as his head thuds against the floor.

The Spine drags the two bots and lays them down side by side, kneeling beside them, "There there, it's alright." He brushes his hand along their foreheads.

"This will pass."

"S..Spine.." His brows furrow and he sits up, suddenly anxious. "Spine, are they alright..?" He winced slightly as he starts to heat up, a steady stream of steam escaping from his parted lips. "Spine.. What did you do...?"

"What do you mean?" The Spine turns and smiles, "You're all alright."

"Not alright..." The Jon pouted, some black oil trailing from his lips. He sighed loudly as he attempted to be mature instead and get rid of his own pain. Slowly it began to leave him, but he still felt hot and the pain wasn't completely gone so he groaned in annoyance.

"Mmm, see, you're alright aren't you Jon?" He patted the Jon's cheek, "S'alright." He smiled at Hatchworth again.

Rabbit huffs as he lies on his back, staring up at the ceiling. A thick plume of steam comes out as he does so, before he groans, twitching again on the floor. "I ff-feel weird," he states plainly, before bursts into manic laughter, more steam leaving him as he practically convulses from how hard he's cackling at absolutely nothing.

The smaller robot groaned again and rolled onto his side, curling up and trembling, covering his ears and quietly groaning to drown away Rabbit's laughter, shutting his optics as far as they'd close.

Hatchworth falls back against the blanket pile, panting as he curled his arms around his chest. "Spine, please.. What did you .." He coughs slightly, more steam spilling from his mouth. He felt as though his insides had been set ablaze and although it wasn't exactly painful he still wished it would stop.

The Spine laughed, "I didn't do anything, s'alright." he repeated, "You're all so /good/!"

Rabbit keeps laughing, practically shrieking with how high-pitched and hoarse it's getting. He rolls over onto his side, still trembling from how hard he's cackling, but at once it trails off into just plain yelling, clutching his head between his hands.

The Spine jumped up into a standing position, "So /GOOD/!" he yelled, "You're AL-RIGHT!!" He looked down upon them and laughed, "What would you like to /do/?"

The Jon just screamed, starting to cry and running his hands through his hair as if he were stressed. He uncurled, sitting up to move away frantically, staring with wide photoreceptors at The Spine fearfully, but he kept sneaking glances at the other two robots as well.

Hatchworth coughed, and as he did more and more steam billowed out from him. He was practically suffocating at this point and for a brief moment he feared for his boiler running dry. He tried to speak, his eyes darting over to The Jon, but all that came from his lips was a shrill whistle.

Rabbit's screeching turns into fits of laughter again, the vents on his face still having steam puff out of them at an alarming rate. Despite the sound of it, his face is contorted into an expression of sheer terror, as if he can't actually control what reaction he's having.

"Let's play a /GAME/!" The Spine jumped up and down back into a seated position, "I bet you all /like/ games!"

Rabbit wheezes between laughing fits, now lying face-first on the floor. He looks up at The Spine, reaching a hand out to him as if he were asking for help, unable to speak between gasps.

The Jon stopped screaming and crying slowly, still choking on sobs and oil leaking from his photoreceptors and lips as he closed his 'eyes' and fell backwards, flat on the ground with his arms above his head. He started to let out puffs of steam, moaning and squirming a little to get back up and failing miserably as he heats up more, uncomfortably. "H-h-help Spine...!" he managed to call, voice cutting in and out.

"Give it a few minutes!" He chimed glaring at them, smiling, "You're alllllll-RIGHT!" he yelled again.

Rabbit drags himself over towards Hatchworth, deciding he looked like the safest option. His laughter peters off into a repeated coughing and wheezing, deciding to rest his head on the other robot's lap and starting to sob - he has barely any idea what's going on, and it frightens him even more than the pain he feels.

The Spine slides over to the Jon and picks him up to cradle him, "You're alright." He soothes, still chuckling deeply. He looks down with his dark expression right in the Jon's face, "Okay?"

Hatchworth manages to control his breathing slightly as his boiler starts to cool down. He looks down at Rabbit and tries to pull him up, curling his arm protectively around the other bot's waist. "J-Just breathe, okay Rabbit? You'll be okay, you just need to /breathe/.."

Rabbit turns, burying his head into Hatchworth's stomach as if he were trying to hide, but he nods in response to the other robot's encouragement. It's no use. He lies there huffing and hyperventilating, working himself into more and more of a panic, temperature rising to dangerous levels.

He felt like his insides were melting as the temperature climbed dangerously high, keeping his mouth open because he has no time to close it what with the constant steam. The Jon just looked back at The Spine and shook his head, not exactly processing what was going on and breathing intensely. He trembled violently in the other robot's arms, groaning quietly as he struggled to control this... whatever the hell it was.

He forces Rabbit to look up at him, his hands firmly holding either side of the Bots face."Rabbit look at me. Focus on my voice. You're going to be okay," He purposefully draws in a deep breath and slowly exhales. "Can you do that? Just follow along with me here." He draws in another deep breath and looks down at Rabbit expectantly.  
Rabbit stares up at him wide-eyed and somewhat lucid, but nods along, copying him and smiling slightly as it starts to work. He coughs after a minute of calming down, shooting a look at The Spine holding The Jon and still lying against Hatchworth's lap. "L-leave him alone," he practically growls, albeit a bit pathetically.

The Spine stood up suddenly, rolling the Jon off of him, his receptors glowing wildly. He shrieked joyfully, "Leave him? LEAVE HIM? Alone? Why would I do that." he walked over and bend down to get face to face with Rabbit, "WHY THE FUCK WOULD I LEAVE HIM ALONE?" He yelled, spitting a bit of oil into Rabbit's face.

Rabbit stares at him blankly, bizarrely fearless due to the way he barely had a correct perception on reality. "'cause I s-s-said so," he replies calmly, still no expression appearing on his face as he watches the enraged automaton get in his face.

Abruptly The Jon started to cry and scream again, body limp on the ground as he begins to cool down, but the lasting insanity he's been dragged into remains regardless.

The Spine slapped him, much like the Destroyer slapped Thor, "We're here to have FUN!"

Hatchworth growled under his breath and roughly shoved The Spine away, pulling Rabbit closer to his chest in an attempt to protect him. "You need to leave, Spine."

Rabbit shakes his head at Hatchworth and sits up, looking up at The Spine still with the same non-expression. "It's okay," he tells the currently-sanest robot. There's a weird whirring somewhere in the back of his skull, and he starts to smile slightly, just as manic as before. "Leave th-them alone," he repeats to The Spine, hands bunching into fists.

The Spine grabbed Rabbits head, "We are here to have FUN." He let go and stood up straight.

"R-Rabbit, /please/.." He pleaded desperately, trying to stand up. He failed and dropped back down to the floor, wincing. "You're going to get hurt.."

Rabbit's lower jaw drops but he keeps smiling, the look even more sinister as a visible flame appears in the back of his mouth. Something must have snapped, because the grin is accompanied by the re-appearance of the flamethrower he'd not used in a long time. He just stands there and watches the other robot, getting scarily protective of the other two despite how much pain he was still in.

The Jon gained some control over his body and struggled to crawl towards the rest of the robots slowly, whimpering. "D-d-don't..." His internal gears and such were cooled down reasonably by now, but he still felt out of sorts and his head was hazy with weird thoughts and signals from his 'brothers'. The last of the steam escaped his lips and he moaned. "Can't hurt... S-Spine..." he grabbed The Spine's leg, hugging it weakly yet defensively.

The Spine glared down at the Jon, and kicked his leg out, making the small robot fly across the floor, he turned back to Rabbit and grabbed his neck, "DONT YOU DARE RUIN THE PARTY!" he tightened his grip and softened his voice, "I thought you were going to be /good/."

Seeing him push The Jon away is evidently the last straw, not even caring about the way that The Spine had hold of him anymore. His whole body convulses at the grip he has on him, knowing it'll probably leave lasting damage, but knowing that his response to it wouldn't. His mouth opens wider, and in one swift movement, he expels a small ball of flame from it, knowing it'd hurt him through sheer temperature even if it didn't do anything else.

"That tickled." The Spine said cocking his head to the side, eyes wide.

The Jon lay still on the ground, staring blankly at them until he saw what Rabbit had done. Immediately, he sat up an struggled to stand, screaming. "NO RABBIT!" he shouted desperately, starting to sob heavily as he finally got to his feet and ran towards The Spine. He wrapped his arms around the taller robot and cried harder. "Don't be hurt Spine, I'll help you!" he mumbled between his sobs, wrapping his arms around The Spine tighter.


	3. Chapter 3

Rabbit looks shocked, eyes widening as he points with a trembling finger at the way the larger robot has his hands around his throat. He can't even speak, just croaking out noises as his feet quiver underneath him, Spine practically holding him off the ground. Rabbit pushes The Jon away with his foot, out of what he knew was a dangerous area and spits gas from his mouth, left over from the flamethrower, still staring at Spine. He knows for a fact that sheer perseverance would at least get him to let go, setting it off again and not stopping this time, holding the roaring flame on his face and being fully aware that once the titanium heats up, he won't be as cocky about it not hurting him.

The Jon stumbled backwards from the push and fell, landing on his back. He simply sat up, stared at the depressing sight and pulled his knees to his chest, giving up when he hid his head in his knees and trembled with sobs. "Rabbit..." he whimpered, trying to ignore the sounds of crackling flames he was hearing. "Spiiiine..." he started to wail, memories that he'd thus far avoided being revisited in the back of his programming. "Don't die!" he started to repeat words he'd said to them back in their days of war, becoming more and more overwhelmed.

The Spine felt the heat in his face, knowing it had to get to at least 1650 degrees Celsius to actually melt, but after a few moments released his grip on Rabbit's neck. He turned to the Jon, "No one's going to /DIE/ DYINGS NOT FUN. We want to have FUN!"

He gasps when his feet hit the floor properly, rubbing at the mechanical joints of his neck, and looks over at The Jon. "I'm s-sorry pal," he says, trying to keep a calm tone with the more naive little robot. "I was j-just tryin' to stop him h-h-hurtin' anyone..." Rabbit backs away slightly, trying to avoid the increasingly worrying titanium figure.

The Jon slowly lifted his head at Rabbit's words, hiccupping. "Y-you're hurt now..." he whimpered. "I don't wanna die, Rabbit... Rabbit... The Spine, don't die..." he kept rambling under his breath, uncurling from his ball and struggling to stand up again, but keeps collapsing. "I-I'm scared, I don't want to die!" he started to shout, scrambling to stand or at least get onto his hands and knees.

"You're worries about me?! Hah!" The Spine looked at him with his jaw slack, mouth forming an 'O' and eyebrows narrowed over his wide optics. "I JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN!!!!!"

Rabbit kneels down next to The Jon, hugging him tightly and pressing his head to his chest, one hand stroking his hair. "I-it's okay," he coos at him, speaking quietly. "N-n-nobody's gonna die, it's g-gonna be okay..." He keeps repeating himself soothingly, looking up at The Spine as he holds The Jon close to him protectively.

The Spine squats down, places a hand on the Jon's shoulder, "Yeah no one's gonna die." he says with wild eyes, staring off at nothing, "We are going to have fun." 

The Jon wrapped his arms around Rabbit carefully, scared of harming him somehow and sobbed, shutting his optics in an attempt to drown out everything. He screamed when The Spine touched him and grabbed Rabbit tighter, his body tensing up as he tries to move away from the bigger automaton with fright. "GIVE THE SPINE BACK!" he yelled. He wasn't even thinking about what he was saying, he just started to shout insults and begging The Spine to 'give The Spine back'.

Rabbit pulled away with him, tugging the pair of them back away from The Spine and curling his arm around The Jon more, protecting him and shielding him with his own body. Cringing slightly as The Jon hugged him tighter, he doesn't want to let him know he was hurting him and instead keeps reassuring him despite the pain, shushing him when he starts yelling. Turning his head, he shoots The Spine a death stare as The Jon keeps insulting him, his voice a lot lower and more serious than usual. "I th-think you should leave," he grumbles, mismatched receptors flickering despite glowing brightly.  


"Leave?" He chuckled, "Leave?!" now more of a shriek, "Leave /my/ chamber? Leave my Hos-" He stopped abruptly and spoke quiet again, "Why should I?"

The Jon's yelling diminished to just faint murmurs, hissing out each insult and whimpering out each plea for The Spine to return. He was growing increasingly scared, wanting to grip Rabbit harder but knowing that any more would probably do serious damage to the other robot. The Jon did however turn his head and body slightly to get a look at The Spine, his blue receptors filled with an odd glow of hatred.

Rabbit gets to his feet, standing between The Spine and The Jon the entire time, and takes The Jon's hand in his own, rubbing the back of it with his thumb reassuringly. "F-fine," he grumbles, scowling at him as he pulls the smaller robot with him. "/We'll/ leave." He pushes The Jon towards the door gently, still standing between them and protecting him as he backs off.

"You're lucky you stopped fighting." The Spine said to himself, "I'd delete ya for good." He stomped around for a while and finally sat down in a chair and stared at the wall.

The Jon just continued his quiet insults and pleas, going through some freaky mood swings from furious to terrified. He started to mix in another plea with his begs. "Don't wanna leave The Spiiine..." he muttered, head dropping. "Have to help him..."

Hatchworth scrambles to his feet, swaying slightly as he stumbled towards the door. He looks between Rabbit and The Jon. "Are you okay?"

"Th-that's not The Spine," Rabbit hisses, voice full of hatred as he looks back at the silvery figure, still pushing The Jon towards the door. "S-somethin's up with him." He turns to Hatchworth, his receptors half open and suddenly looking very tired, an honest expression on his face instead of the brave act he'd been trying to put up - he shakes his head slowly. But then he snaps again when he hears The Spine mocking him, spinning on his heels and standing between him and the other two. "O-oh really?!" he cries out, "You w-wouldn't even /try/ it!"

His hand falls on Rabbit's shoulder, trying to pull him back. "Rabbit, don't. Please. It's not worth it." He trembled slightly. "We need to go now."

"R-Rabbit... Hatchworth, please..." he shuddered, his body freezing up for a second or two. He turned his head to look desperately at Hatchworth. "W-want The Spine back, help... get him back..." he started to whisper, voice breaking up like a bad radio signal.

"Get him.. Back..?" He shook his head. "Jon I don't know what you mean."

The Spine waited for them to leave then said to himself, "You try that again, and your friends are gone, you're lucky I'm stronger." he slapped his own face, "Wait till I'm done my fun."

Rabbit flinches at the feel of Hatchworth's hand on his shoulder, clearly put on edge. He nods after a moment, visibly shaking in a mixture of anger and fear. "Y-yeah," he chokes out, backing away again. "You're r-r-right." He rubs a hand against his neck again, coughing when he hits a sore spot, and leaves with the other two.

"NO WAIT!" The Jon suddenly screamed, pushing away from Rabbit and Hatchworth to run back to The Spine. He collapsed before he even made it a meter away from the two, his body too exhausted to do anything more. He started to cry loudly, summoning the energy to cover his face with his hands.

Rabbit darts back to him, originally going to lift him up and then realising he doesn't have the energy to do that himself. He kneels down next to him again, shushing him and rubbing his back. "Hey, hey there..." he starts, speaking softly. "C-c'mon..."

He rushes forward to grab The Jon's arm, trying to lift him back to his feet. "Rabbit I need help here, /please/"

In his privacy the Spine continuously hit himself, "You feel that, don't you?" He does it again, "I don't feel it, you do." He got up and banged his head on the wall, "I'm on top Spine, don't fuck with me."

Rabbit's arms are shaking and making rattling noises as he tries to help out Hatchworth, grimacing and grinding his teeth with how much it hurts, but still managing to pull The Jon back up between them, still encouraging him gently.

The Jon sobbed out The Spine's name over and over, begging him to come back so this terror would all stop. His body jerked violently and he tried to claw his face open, leaving scratches in his metal fingers and cheeks and forehead.

"Jon. /Jon/!" cries out Rabbit, yanking the smaller robot's arm away from his face and trying to stop him, horrified and in a panic that he'd go that far. "It's gonna be okay," he tells him, tone falling softer again as he holds him close, not letting him get at his own face. "He'll c-c-come back, everyone's g-gonna be fine."

He shrieked, but allowed Rabbit to cradle him with little protest as his oil tears continued to drench his face. "Spiiine...!" he wailed, hoping desperately that his voice somehow would reach The Spine. And that the older robot would respond warmly instead of harshly like he was.

"Jon please, just.. Just give up.." It hurt to say those words, but he felt like it was his responsibility to keep the smaller bot safe. He tugged gently at his arm, hoping to coax him away from the room again.

Rabbit just holds him tighter, pulling him to his chest and hugging him properly and tightly, wrapping his arms around him and shushing him. "I-it'll be okay," he repeats, trying to reassure himself more than anyone else as he too begins to cry, trying to hide the oil streaking his face as he rests his head on top of The Jon's.

"I can't, what about The Spine!" he complained, feeling that Rabbit was crying and trying to be strong again. "I-it's okay, we can get him b-back, Rabbit!" he said. His tone sounded like he were his old, happy self, but his current state was destroying the illusion as he smiled brokenly. "He may not... come back, Rabbit... he might be..." he hugged Rabbit back and seemed to give up while his oil tears stopped and he wore a blank expression. His photoreceptors stopped glowing as he powered down to relieve his stress.

Rabbit pulls back slightly, looking at his blank expression and falling into more of a panic, looking up at Hatchworth and not knowing what do to in his panic. "H-he's offline," he tells him, struggling to hold up The Jon again and making Hatchworth help carry him. "Wh-whaddawedo?!" he cries out, obviously getting more and more distressed by his own pain and everything happening around him.

Hatchworth let out a concentrated burst of steam and picked up The Jon, slinging the bot over his shoulder. His knees buckled slightly from the extra weight. "We need to get Jon back to his room, that'll be his best bet. As for us.. I.. I don't know yet.."

Rabbit sighs heavily, it sounding rough in the back of his throat from exhaustion. "I th-think it might be best f-f-f-for me to do the s-same," he offers, rubbing at his neck again and getting irritated by how prominent his stammering was becoming. "D-don't wanna b-b-break any /more/."

"I'm not leaving you alone." Hatch's voice was stern. " We'll all stay in Jon's room, alright?"

The Spine began to walk out of his chamber muttering, "Let me have my fun or watch your friends die." He got into the hallway and stood there staring over at the bots.


	4. Chapter 4

Rabbit nods anxiously, looking down at the floor, refusing to meet Hatchworth's gaze and seeming almost ashamed. "I'm /s-scared/, Hatchy," he confesses, knowing that The Jon couldn't hear them now. "Seriousl-ly. This is b-/bad/." After hesitating, he raises his gaze to finally look at him, trying his hardest to smile. "Thank you," he mumbles, not really describing what he was thankful for, but thinking it'd be a bit much to say 'everything'.

"I know.. I-I'm scared too. But for right now we need to make sure that Jon is okay, and you need some rest, I can't.." His voice shook for a moment. "I can't risk losing both of y-you.."

Rabbit nods frantically, looking away again, placing the blame for everything solely on himself as usual, even though he'd done nothing. "Y-ya won't," he tells him, trying to sound reassuring like he had done with The Jon despite his voice shaking. Internally, he was voicing the exact same concern, but he still had to feel like he was being the 'big brother' of the group, no matter what. Even if that meant smiling in the face of both utter terror and misery. 

Miraculously, despite being shut down, The Jon swings his arm over in the direction that The Spine is watching them from, something inside him clicking loudly like gears before he goes still again. It was almost as if he knew that The Spine was still watching them.

Rabbit jolts back in surprise at The Jon's arm moving, still entirely on edge. He looks at it, and then looks at the way it was pointing - his optics widen when he realises The Spine is still watching them, his whole body trembling anxiously again as he moves it to The Jon's room twice as fast.

Once inside The Jon's room Hatchworth gingerly places him down on the bed, checking for any outstanding injuries. "Hmm.. He'll need some minor repairs but as far as I know he's not in any danger.." He turned back to Rabbit. "How are you holding up? I should probably check you too."

"F-fine," he blurts out immediately, voice a nervous squeak. After taking a minute to think about it, he shakes his head in confession, sitting himself down on the edge of The Jon's bed. "N-not good."

"What's wrong? Are you leaking somewhere? Punctured?" He kneels down in front of Rabbit. "Please tell me so I can fix this.. y-you, I mean.."

The Spine walked slowly down the hallway, whistling an unfamiliar tune. He looked straight forward until he got to the Jon's room, he then just stood in the doorway and stared.

Rabbit points at his neck, looking ashamed and refusing to meet his gaze, not really knowing what was wrong with it. "H-he grabbed me," is all that he tells him, huffing in frustration. "Now it hurts. I th-think somethin's wrong w-w-with my boiler, too..." His eyes dart upwards when he sees The Spine in the doorway, staring back at him expectantly.

Hatchworth doesn't seem to notice The Spine, but instead reaches up to brush the tips of his fingers down Rabbit's neck lightly. "Hm. It's dented slightly.. but it doesn't feel like anything's been broken.. Why do you think there's something wrong with your boiler? Can you not breathe properly?"

The Jon's photoreceptors flickered with light a few times. He groaned and trembled as if he were cold, before turning off again and going still. He wasn't used to being shut down, but each time he subconsciously attempted to power up, he'd snuff out his own power again.

Rabbit cringes at the feeling of his fingers, pulling back a little, before nodding at his question. His eyes dart between the two robots, still keeping an eye on The Spine. "N-no, I'm - I'm f-findin' it difficult." Wheezing as if he were demonstrating, he looks at the way steam was pouring out of the vents on the side of his face more than usual.

"Well I can't take a look at your boiler when you're still conscious.. I'm assuming that like me you're running out of water, but.." He shrugged. "I don't exactly want you to power down just yet.." He looked away, not wanting to admit that he couldn't bear to be alone.

Rabbit nods, understanding it immediately and trying his hardest to smile again. He puts a hand on The Jon's leg as if he were trying to comfort him despite him not even being awake. "I c-can deal with it."

The Spine stood there, unmoving, just staring.

The smile drops off Rabbit's face again when he looks up at The Spine, waving an arm in his direction and where he thinks his line of vision is lying.

"..Nn?" He notices Rabbit's waving and looks towards the door. He suddenly feels like he's going to be sick as his gaze falls on The Spine. He shakes his head and stands up, hands curling into fists by his side. "Spine. I'm going to ask you o-once. Please leave." There is a noticeable tremble in his voice when he speaks next. "Please.. Please don't make me hurt you.."

Rabbit just watches the pair of them, his hand still resting on The Jon's leg in a slight protective measure as he sits back silently, actually not wanting to draw attention to himself any more.

The Spine stiffens up, shaking slightly, then finally manages to choke out, "Set me free." before screaming out in pain. "Stop." He growls at no one straightening his face out.

The Jon lay powered down on the bed, before the distress of the other robot's leaked into his unconscious mind and his receptors slowly started to glow blue again. He let out a gust of steam, not really 'awake' yet, and still figuring out if he should be or not.

Rabbit's practically petting The Jon slowly, somewhat in a way to comfort himself as he watches him, trying his hardest to ignore the other two and get away from it.

The Spine's receptors started glowing brighter, and wilder, and his face growing more strained and uncomfortable, teeth clenched.

Hatchworth's tone is pleading, desperate even, and he chokes back a sob. "Just go! Leave us a-alone.."

The Spine tilts his head back looking down at Hatchworth, still looking angry. "My hone--" he stiffens up more and runs down the hallway.

Rabbit shuffles backwards on the bed, back hitting the wall, putting as much distance between them as he possibly can, quaking in fear. His optics are wide open and he appears to have gone into some sort of trance, mouth hanging half open and looking dazed.

Slowly, The Jon fully became conscious of himself, his surroundings, and the other robots. He sat up, groaning quietly and bringing his hands to his head, pressing his palms to his forehead in an attempt to sooth his headache. He was hearing static and feeling more hot than he should have felt, and briefly feared if he was reliving his previous experiences.

Hatchworth looks down at the two bots. "Rabbit.. Stay here with Jon. I'm going to have a.. talk with him.." He tenses up, not exactly wanting to leave them alone. "Just.. Lock the door when I go, okay? I'll be back soon." He stepped away from the bed and towards the door, peering out into the hallway in an attempt to figure out where The Spine had run off to.

Rabbit's eyes shift, but the rest of him stays perfectly still as if he'd gone into stasis, looking around at the other robots rapidly and silently.

The Spine stumbled down quickly to his chamber, twitching and talking to himself. "Stop that! You've asked for it!" He bursts through the doorway and falls to his knees.

Taking note that the door had been thrown open, Hatchworth tensed and approached The Spine's room. He stood in the doorway, arms folded across his chest. "Stand up. You and I need to talk." All the reservations had dropped from his voice and what remained was little more than pure anger.

The Spine pulled himself up onto his elbows, "HAH, you don't know my game son, stay out of this." He said, though his eyes spoke a different language, "I'd leave if I were you." the Spine chuckled, looking up at him somewhat pleadingly.

"You think this is a game?" He sounded more confused than angry. "What happened to you, Spine..?" He took another step into the room. "This isn't like you.."

"It's--" he choked before starting to shout again, "It's all one big game Hatchworth, don't you see?"

"..." For a moment he just stood there silently, bewildered by the other bots words. He then dropped to his knees, kneeling down at The Spine's level. His brows knit together as he stared at his 'brother', hand reaching out to rest on his shoulder. "Stop with all this cryptic talk! I just want to know why you're doing this to us.."

"Not.." he breathed, "he--, /I/ want to!" he grabbed his own arm and dug his fingers into it, "Ssstop."

The Jon was slowly processing that he was in his room and that Rabbit was there as well. He seemed in a strange trance, half-powered on and half-powered off. The Jon worried, but couldn't find himself to focus on Rabbit what with the distress he felt from the other two robots. He sluggishly got out of his bed, groaning softly. The Jon walked to his doorway, stumbling a little bit and struggling to put on his usual smile.

Hatchworth firmly grabbed both of The Spine's shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Focus, damn it! Just tell me what's wrong!"

The Spine shoved Hatchworth off, "I will kill them Spine, I /will/!" he twitched again, "You, c- YES I WILL."

The Jon heard The Spine yelling and immediately screamed as well. He fell to his knees and grabbed his head, afraid of being harmed. A minute passed of silence and he slowly got to his feet, sliding against the wall on his way to The Spine's room to help him.

He fell backwards with a small grunt. As he lifted his head to stare at The Spine, he suddenly realised something. He was afraid. He was afraid of so many things. He wanted so desperately to just leave, to hide himself and Jon and Rabbit away from all this, but at the same time he felt an even deeper pang as he realised that he couldn't bear to see The Spine, his idol, in such turmoil. He pushed himself back onto his knees, optics flashing as he grabbed The Spine's wrist tightly. "I'm going to fix you. Don't you worry. I-I'll have you back to n-normal in no t-time!"

The Spine yanked it back, "Who do you think you are?" he stood up straight and brushed himself off.

"Your friend! Your.. Your brother.." He looked down at his hands. "Or.. at least I thought so.."

The Jon slowly made his way to The Spine's room, peeking in through the doorway and just watching the scenes unfold before his glowing photoreceptors. "Spiiiiiiine..." he whispered, but he was looking at Hatchworth in an expression mixed with fear and worry for his safety. "Run..." he whispered again, willing him to run from this... titanium automaton. He wasn't The Spine anymore, and The Jon didn't even know what to call him at present.

The Spine's face became neutral, blank except for a drop of oil running down his face, "You. will. obey." he growled.

Hatchworth looked back, surprised to see Jon awake and moving again. "Jon.. You shouldn't be here. You need to rest. Please, I.." he swallowed hard, looking back at The Spine. "I can handle.. it.."

"Leave." The Spine hissed, "Both of you, I need to deal with a pest. I warned him."

"Spine, I don't want to leave..." The Jon says weakly, stepping into the room on shaking legs. "Please don't make me leave, The Spine..." he pleaded, optics welling with more oil, surprisingly he had more to cry away.


End file.
